Hiderid

Despite the calamitous setback inflicted upon their culture, the Hiderid remain an industrious, mercantile, and individualist people. Where others see their displacement as a curse, the Hiderid see opportunity. Born high or low, these pioneers of fortune are not afraid to expand and squabble, but they received perhaps the worst planet, which they would aim to turn into paradise. Behind the civilian facade of jade and stone, warring corporations are the true showrunners in Hiderid society, even as they plot and engage in legal tugs-of-war, covert cyberattacks and even open warfare.

Statblock

Size	Medium
Lifespan	75
Magic Ability	Only perhaps 2% of all Hiderid are able to perform Spellweaving. Foreign casters and Dive Drive workers are especially sought after in the Coalition.
Worldcrown	Hakaria
Major Factions	Hiderid Coalition of Stars
Language	Pyxian Common, Hakari
Average height	5′4″‒6′0″ (1.63‒1.8 m)
Average weight	130‒170 lb (59‒77 kg)
Skin colour	Hiderid have bright plumage is very colourful in females, and somewhat drabber in males.
Hair colour	Hiderid have feathers, not hair - they do have a feathered "headcrest" of similar colouration to the rest of the plumage which falls onto the chest and back.
Eye colour	Blue, green, brown.

Physical Description

Hiderid are, for all intents and purposes, bird-folk. Whilst their wings are vestigial and do not allow for flight - when they grow at all - Hiderid possess two arms and their hands have opposable thumbs. Their legs end in powerful talons. Hiderid stand relatively straight and tall, with females slightly smaller than males. Hiderid have small yellow or white beaks, and resemble birds-of-prey. The colours and patterns of their plumage and feathers vary immensely. Females tend to have brighter colours and more elaborate patterns than males. The Hiderid chest is heavily plumed.
Hiderid have weaker, hollow bones than most species, and their bodies are ill-suited for violence. This is one reason why warfare has historically been conducted through trade and subtlety rather than open war. Hiderid are oviparous, but maintain monogamous relationships. In most Hiderid cultures, children descend from the mother, and belong to her Clan first and foremost.
Hiderid garments tend to be light and made of linen or polymer. Hiderid dresses come in garish colours, and adorn themselves with bracelets of gold and amulets encrusted with gemstones. Males and females both wear robe-like outfits, with the length and detailing highly indicative of one’s social and financial status. When conducting business, Hiderid wear a kwlara, a dark, formal toga-like dress that conceals the body but allows exposed plumage to contrast. Hiderid do not wear “shoes” per se, but a variety of talon-wear exists and is usually worn in urban or hostile environments. Teal, gold-yellow, and jade are some of the most usual colours for garments. Perfumes are often used, and considered part of one’s outfit.

Tona'ak

The Tona’ak are a splinter ethnicity of Hiderid who emerged, centuries before the Great Jump, in martial nations beyond the Coalition’s core colonies, on high-gravity planets along the rim of the Pyxis Globula. They were known for their bulky bones, their overall strength and their falcon-like faces. At one point, they formed a competing ideological bloc against the mainstream Coalition. The Great Jump has put an end to that, and the Tona’ak now serve as bouncers, bodyguards, mercenaries, or aboard the small Coalition Defence Force.

Relki

The Relki are a splinter ethnicity of Hiderid, born spacers from before the time of the Great Jump. Over countless generations of life at least partly spent without the gravity provided by Dive Drive or fusion thrusters in full burn, the Reiki have grown more frail and less suited to planetside life - but also more apt to crawl through duct spaces or make full use of exosuits. Reiki Hiderid tend to inhabit the gravity-free environments of the Hodeth Belt or the moons of Hestia due to their unique physiological factors.

Racial Bonus

Mainstream Hiderid : +2 CON, +2 CHA
Tona'ak : +2 CON, +2 STR
Relki : +2 CHA, +2 DEX

Racial Foci

Innate Balance

Hiderid have an innate understanding of balance and momentum. They gain a +1 level bonus to Piloting (except Rel'ki, who gain a +1 level bonus to Sneak instead)

Cultural Friendliness

Hiderid have succeeded on the galactic stage through their shrewd diplomacy and interest in other cultures. This should come in very handy in a galaxy with far more life than their own. They gain a +1 level bonus to Connect and Trade.

Society & Alignment

Hiderid cultures throughout history have often been dominated by trade and profit - of land, of resources, and of course, of ideas. Hiderid are known as traders and hustlers, as workaholics for those unlucky enough to live in urban centres, and they have a cunning eye for finance. Whether they live in the Coalition or work for one of its many corporations, Hiderid tend to be very opportunistic and individualistic. They are typically not violent and their fragile constitution has led them to massively automate much of their defence apparatus; still, Hiderid see war as a profit, but only so long as it is done away from their land.
Main article : Hiderid Coalition of Stars

Homeworld

The ancestral homeworld of the Hiderid was wet and tropical - a far cry from the desert planet Hakaria which they eventually settled on. Most Hiderid settlements are near the rare bodies of water, along powerful rivers, or around isolated oases. The Hiderid often live under the protection of the Hiderid Coalition of Stars, but identify more readily with their town or sometimes river community. Hiderid are particularly individualistic, and many settlements follow their own codes of law. A typical Hiderid river will be dotted in ranches and stations, with the occasional Coalition-manned hub, as well as a few corporate cities built to house workers on various projects.
Hiderid cities, from the capital Bluereach to the littlest hub, are built around regular grid designs, but each block develops according to the whim of its occupants, and cryptic alleyways open out onto the wide paved avenues. Many Hiderid buildings are blocky and angular, supported by heavily decorated columns, and made with locally found and crafted materials such as limestone, sandstone, and glass. Gold and marble often adorn city streets, mixing with carefully maintained garden areas and chaotic markets, whereas dark marble is preferred for cenotaphs and mausoleums. Skyscrapers often stretch skyward out of complicated maze-like complexes. Older areas and slums still feature the initial modular blocks taken from the Ark Hakar, though they are gradually phased out by more modern buildings. Many Hiderid use lower areas, or subterranean parts of their cities, for residential uses.

Communities

Many Hiderid have two families : their ancestral clan, of course, but also the corporation they work for. Hiderid either work to live or, for the more ambitious, live to work. Effectively, Contracts of Employment are highly respected, for belonging to a corporation entitles a worker and smaller businesses to many benefits not provided by the state.
As the glory of the first days wanes and many Hiderid push the frontier further and further, so does their ties to the Coalition wane over time. There are just as many Hiderid who yearn to afford a spaceship and take to the stars. In the outlands, scattered communities of Hiderid thrive away from the corporate mainstream. Alliances of clans build townships atop smaller oases and engage in smaller-scale bartering for survival. The mechanized out-clans see their way of life as an act of rebellion, yet they also play a part in society, usually as messengers, miners, or traders. Some Hiderid clans have bought out their own ships and seek to trade and perhaps settle across the stars. A few have settled on the neutral world Nevael where they tend to blend their traditions with Boshaari politics.
Hiderid are fond of gemstones and gold. In lieu of business cards, they often exchange a chip embroidered in gold, and sometimes featuring small gemstones - the more powerful the individual, the more elaborate the card. In addition, credit chips and computers are frequently adorned with gemstones. Lapis lazuli, in particular, has a deep cultural affiliation with wealth and distrust. Even though gold is found nearly everywhere in space, it remains highly popular.
Many wealthy people commission mausoleums, or sometimes cenotaphs. Sometimes, a Hiderid particularly deemed worthy will obtain a tomb or mausoleum from the state or a group of donors. Whilst the Hiderid are otherwise faithless, it is considered a good omen to leave a gem or a coin of gold at mausoleums in exchange for luck and future success in business. One of the biggest mausoleums is dedicated to members of Clan Kluak, who spent all of their fortune in making Bluereach livable (and recouped considerable investment). Once a cycle, most Hiderid will leave belongings they deem valuable to the mausoleum - may it be a salaryman’s Boshaari watch or a lavish statue of a corporate leader.
Hiderid are teetotallers and are allergic to most alcohols, but their palate is highly developed. Hiderid cuisine is spicy and flavourful, though foreigners sometimes find it overwhelming. Nonetheless, Hiderid street food can now be found on every street corner of every major city or space station in the Stream. Using sassafras and trailbramble wine, native to the Coalition’s new environment, countless varieties of root beer have become a staple drink across the Coalition and beyond.

Alignment

Alignment-wise, Hiderid fill the entire spectrum. Neutral types are usually more common; yet typically, the more wealthy, the more towards good (philanthropic) or evil (self-serving) a Hiderid will become.

Playing a Hiderid

Hiderid likely…

• ...seek to learn more about other culture, though mostly to access risk versus reward,
• ...look for opportunities to make money (or hoard another precious commodity) whenever possible,
• ...have a cunning sense of appraisal and commerce,
• ...value individual freedoms, and do not understand how some races and civilizations can be content with anything less,
• ...consider their inequal system as the ultimate expression of freedom, as nobody is technically barred from making money,
• ...act condescendingly to other Ark races, due to their nature as pioneers, as well as being the first Ark to make it.

Other species likely…

• ...find the Coalition greedy, genuinely interesting, or/and sometimes duplicitous,
• ...see the Coalition government as powerless compared to the nasty corporations that truly run your society,
• ...see your confidence as condescending or patronizing arrogance,
• ...worry that you might covet their colony world through subterfuge, often citing New Oxeia as an example,
• ...look forward to trading with your kind, for the Imperative often yields great bargains for all its confusing rules,
• ...respect your prowess as peacekeepers and diplomats,
• ...fear or misunderstand the expansionist agenda behind your kind and honeyed words.

Naming Convention

Hiderid names are formed of two parts ; family and given names. Upon marriage, Hiderid change their given names. Hiderid families can sometimes be composed of more than two individuals, and the least wealthy partners will also change their last name to that of the wealthier partner at the time of marriage.

Male Names

Tir Erex
Sasdish Roth
Thiam Dix
Dil Suzri
Issosh Turs

Female names

Imrighu Visi
Hebli Ricayhkah
Shil Rhozerda
Nohko Taymgunol
Egudo Tash

Adventuring

There are a few reasons for Hiderid to wander :

• They are part of a trade fleet or diplomatic convoy, and carry valuable goods with them to trade.
• They want to experience more of the universe, meet new people, and make great discoveries.
• They want to experience wealth, fame, and/or excitement wherever they can.
• They want to escape a life of poverty, and have hatched a ride to literally anywhere they can.
• They resent the Coalition's Imperative and seek more harmonious societies.
• They seek to study new and ancient traditions alike.
• They want to undermine another faction and safeguard Hiderid interests against another corporation, other Stream societies, or outsiders.

Sentient Species of the Elpis System
Boshaari - Hiderid - Mewei - Hhrot - Zaalan - Ton'keena - Ophonni